(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the connection of electrical components to a printed circuit board, and more particularly to a die tool for configuring ordinary eyelets as gripping eyelets.
(2) Prior Art
Electrical printed circuit board assembly is generally highly automated. The leads of electrical components are automatically inserted into eyelets arranged through one side of a printed circuit board. The distal ends of those leads are clinched on the back or bottom side of the board, which is then wave soldered.
Unattached wires, utilized to connect part of the circuit on the printed circuit board to other boards or components, are another story completely. The stripped ends of the wires have to be inserted into the printed circuit boards by hand, and hand soldered individually, making the operation expensive and time consuming.
Printed circuit board assembly manufacturers will use mylon plugs to insert into eyelets in the printed circuit boards to prevent them from becoming filled with solder during wave soldering and prior to the stripped ends of the unattached leads being mated therewith. The plugs are then removed to reveal an empty ordinary eyelet, into which the unattached lead may be placed and hand soldered.
One concept to this field is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,057, wherein a terminal is utilized to grip the wire. Unfortunately this terminal does not permit the wire to extend through the board so that it can be soldered from its back or bottom side.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tool which will permit an ordinary standard eyelet to grip an unattached wire and hold it in place so that the wire and other components already inserted into the printed circuit board may be soldered only once which is during the wave soldering operation.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a tool which will permit small manufacturers who run on low budgets, to utilize standard ordinary eyelets to become gripping eyelets without expensive sophisticated equipment.